Pacific Primitive Rendezvous Orville CA June 2014

This year for our vacation we went to the Pacific Primitive Rendezvous in Orville CA.  We all had a really good time, and the kids got to do some new cool things.  Miles went on a Snipe Hunt with his Dad, and participated in the sling shot range.  Helen made a corn husk doll, participated in a Homestead run(Miles did this event too), crushed acorns to make acorn flour, had her face painted, sewed a leather pouch, played in the branch fort with Miles and our friend Jacob, in general just had a grand time.

                                                        Nature walk about camp

Summertime fun 2014

Here are some pictures of Miles and Helen having some summertime fun.

One day we had some road construction going on out front of the house, so the kids decided to take advantage of the noisy situation and set up a lemonade stand.  They made $4 bucks and sold 4 glasses of lemonade, not too bad considering they were only charging 25 cents a glass.  Reminds me of when my brother and I use to sit out front of our house and sell tomatoes, and corn on the cob.

New Songs of Blades and Heros

Songs of Blades and Heros is our go-to miniatures game.  Rules mechanics are simple, but there is plenty of uncertainty in the mix.  Miles and Tom have played it for several years.  We finally dragged Sara in.  Well of course, young Helen wants in, too.  With the promise from her that she would do all her own addition on dice rolls, it was time to let her play.

SoBH uses 'warbands' - a collection of models that form your gang.  Now, the beauty of these rules is that anything can be used in a warband.  Most of our characters are from the Descent game, but a dinosaur or two has slipped in.

But what for Helen?  We wanted something different.  A neighbor had recently given her a lifetime supply of "Littlest Petshop" toys.  With pretty pink skin and giant bambi eyes, you just knew these guys were evil.

Helen picked out 6 pets, and came up with ideas for each one.  (Dad coached on one or two).  A hunt around for some extra bases, some hot glue, and we were in business.  So here they are, the killer petshop boys (and girls):

Top row, left to right:

Husky.  Q4 C3  Long move, Big, Savage - the long range terror-striker

Captain Purple Pants.  Q3  C2  Leader, Big

Dachshund.  Q3 C3  Big, Tailslap (hey, they're long dogs), Lethal (rat things)

Bottom row, right to left (saving best for last)

Fluffy the Flying Puppy.  Q3 C3  Big, Flying (big ears like Dumbo...)

Grey Seal Mage.  Q4 C2  Big, Magic User

Pink Tutu Hamster.  Q3 C 5/2  Shooter (L), Sharpshooter, Poison, Good Shot.  

Yes, that is a hamster with a pink machine gun.  A pink machine gun that shoots pink poisoned pellets...

So we took them out for a quick spin tonight:

The big memorial in the center is a place of power, anybody in sole possession gets to re-roll one fail.  We started from the 4 corners, Helen's pets are across from me.  Sara took my good band, Miles his standard, and I took an experimental one that put all the power in one giant.  You can just see him at the bottom, berserking his way across the table.

The pets did well, but in the end all warbands fell before the might of Sara.  But the pets will ride again...

miles video 1 original

miles video 1 original

Hart Canyon 2014

Another great rendezvous at Hart Canyon this year.  Hart is known to always have some out-of-the-ordinary weather, but not this time.  A wind storm the first weekend that we missed.  A mountain thunderstorm that did no more than spook Miles was all we had this time.  Guess that means extra snow next year!

The club did their usual outstanding job of keeping kids entertained.  They had a hay-bale treasure hunt with some very nice prizes inside.

Mike used his 1750's hand mortar to launch tennis balls for prizes.  The kids had more fun shooting the thing than chasing the balls!

And later that afternoon Helen did what we all wish we could...

Yes, completely asleep on the bench.

Bank Heist Part One

 It was a quiet day on the streets of the town.  (Name?  Still working on it.  Serenity- taken.  Whitewash city – taken.  Badgerville?)  Sheriff Gordon West was walking the streets, and all was well.  Miss Steffie was across the street, trying to drum up some business for her ‘baths’ by showing some leg.  The old prospector Julius was cackling out front of the saloon.

Oh, that’s why.  Preacher Blair was up on the balcony of the hotel, practicin’ his Sunday sermon.  Yep, all was right in the world, until Sheriff West turned the corner.

  Standing in front of the bank were 2 banditos, armed for bear!  Sheriff West recognized the surly outlaw with the rifle, it was none other than Juan Herrera.  Side-kick and right-hand man to the notorious villain Jake Rodriguez!  It had to be a bank heist.

Sheriff West didn't have time to waste.  He figured to draw down on Juan, order him to drop the rifle.  But the dice sometimes roll just the right way…  Instead of a warning shot, West drilled Juan right through the middle!  There goes the gangs heavy firepower, groanin and moanin in the street!  (Not the most sporting start.  Sheriff didn't exactly follow the code of the west there.  But it was an amazing shot at long range…)

 Well, now the alarm has been raised.  The rest of the gang starts boiling out of the bank, carrying heavy bags of gold loot.  Young Chad Hansen, left on guard outside with Juan, starts running in the wrong direction.  You idiot!  We stashed the horses on the other edge of town!

Deputy Kurt Fields was hanging out in the Sheriff’s office with his two buddies Lucas Estrada and Jody Hall.  Kurt grabbed his double-barrel shotgun, Lucas his rifle, and Jody checked that both 6-guns were loose in his holsters.  The shot told them something was up.  Popping out of the office, Kurt and Jody headed straight up the street while Lucas decided to flank to the left.  This was a fateful decision for Lucas…

 Sheriff West also realized that moving right down Main street wasn’t the wisest choice.  Knowing his deputy was alerted, he decided to race around back of the hotel and come up behind the bank.  But what’s this?  Preacher Blair has raced into the middle of the street, speechifying at the top of his lungs about the evils of murder.  Right out in the middle like that he’s spoiling everybody’s shots!  Doc McCarthy (out of view) had been playing poker with the deputies and walks out front to see the show.

But what of our other civilians?  The Barkeeper and the Prospector are just watching for now, but Miss Steffie has to get involved.  She rushes up to Lucas as he tries to flank the outlaws.  Using her feminine wiles, and bountiful cleavage, she convinces Lucas that the Sheriff will be fine without him.  Lucas decides it’s time for a bath.

And they head away from the fight.

Bank Heist Part 2

 Meanwhile, back at the bank…  Head outlaw Jake Rodriguez leads the way back to the horses, carrying a heavy bag of gold.  That’s the other new kid, Willie Hubbard, right behind him.  Their brute, Dewey Medina, leaned his rifle around the corner of the bank.  Until he dumped that bag of loot on somebody else, though, he wasn’t going to have a shot.  That dang preacher-man was in the way, too.  Being outlaws, they ignored Juan groaning in the dirt.  Chad finally turns around and runs the right way.

(formatting error, this goes with above pic)
Deputy Fields and Jody Hall still try to dodge around Preacher Blair.  “Violence solves nothing!” he cries.  Doc McCarthy runs forward to help the downed man.

(left pic)
Nobody notices Sheriff West.  He grew up in this town, and knows every alley and byway.  He moves rapidly forward…

Surprise! As the gang re-distributes the loot and Dewey guards the back door, Sheriff West rushes them from the side.

Boom!  He just takes a nick out of Willie.

 Blam!  The preacher finally moves out of Dewey’s way and he shoots down Deputy Fields.  Doc McCarthy now switches to the nearest wounded man.

 Hey, Lucas, want to join us?  Oh, never mind, you’re still busy.

 Doc starts patching up Deputy Fields.

It’s a gunfight behind the bank!  Chad wings the Sheriff, just enough to knock him down.  Willie is back up and running for the horses, with everybody following.

But Jody won’t let them get away!  They just shot his friend!  Jody carries two pistols for a reason, and used them both.  One missed Chad, but the other…